3 Days Riding an Aprilia Tuareg 660 Off Road in Utah: The 2024 3 Step Desert Rodeo

I'm finally going to get to ride the Moab area. Proof that I'm eating salad. You okay? Are you pinned? It's been an eventful ride so far. I wonder what we're having for breakfast. Wow, Utah. There's a lot of you. Oh, double f***ers. Be ready to leap off. Is this real? I'm going to run the Colorado BDR with them and it's going to be a tour for dorksiders only. What an amazing three days of riding. Hello friends and welcome to LaSalle, Utah. We're about not even an hour from Moab and I'm here at the Three Step Hideaway, which is a off-grid motorcycle Airbnb in the middle of nowhere. And I'm here with Colorado Motorcycle Adventures for their annual Three Step Rodeo. I'm finally going to get to ride the Moab area. I drove through Moab today. It's always been a dream. It's been a great year for riding places I've always wanted to ride. Colorado Motorcycle Adventures puts on tours. They rent bikes. They're a great company. I'll link them in the description and I'm super grateful to them for this opportunity. It is Wednesday. We're here till Sunday. They are letting me borrow one of their Aprilia Touareg 660s so I can finally get some extensive seat time on the 660. But this is a small, intimate rally. There's only 50 people here. Everyone's going to kind of know everybody. We're going to go out in groups and ride. It's going to be a blast. But first, beer. What you looking for? Oh, hey. Hey, how are you? I thought I saw a Coors Light in there. Can I help you get rid of some of those? Yeah. Appreciate it. Awesome. Thank you. Appreciate it. We're close enough to the Colorado Rockies. Ooh. Damn. People need to see this food. Unbelievable. This food is unbelievable. It's pretty damn good looking. Proof that I'm eating salad. I love it. I had to say it on camera. Welcome, everyone. Thank you for coming to our three-step desert rodeo. Who are you? I'm Dylan. Hi, Dylan. I'm from CMA. Thanks a bunch for being out here. It's going to be a rad, rad weekend. Sure. Somebody spotted the cat. Good morning. It is the first full day here at the Three-Step Desert Rodeo. Got my Toureg behind me. Got a cup of coffee. Going to get what I already can tell is going to be a delicious breakfast and head out and ride, I think, one of the easy routes today to get a feel for the Toureg and the terrain. So good morning. Looking forward to a good one. How's it going today? So far, so good. Good. Delicious coffee, comfortable cabin. Sun's coming up. It's going to be a good one. I can already tell. Oh, yeah. Lots of protein. That's what I'm after. Lots of protein. That'll get me through the morning. We're headed out to do the Abajo Bears Ears track. Abajo meaning below. I'm going to go ahead and guess this runs below Bears Ears or something. I mean, that's what it's called. Been messing with the settings. A couple guys here that own Touregs have let me know that the off-road mode traction control sucks compared to the 790, to the KTMs. So the best play is to just turn the traction control entirely off in off-road mode, which is what I have done. So we'll be using the old-fashioned left-handed traction control today. So it turns out there's sand in the desert. Been a pretty bad monsoon season, I guess. So a lot of it's washed out yet. It's not even deep. OK, that's easy. Not even deep. Easy peasy. Lemon squeezy. Stand up. Cruising through. Eh, eh, eh, eh. Yeah! That's what I like to see. Nice to go to places you've heard of and always wanted to go. And then you go there, and you're like, hey, that was cool. I'm glad I went there. That's what's happening right now. You OK? Are you pinned? OK. Do you want me to lift? Can you help me lift? Let's get it up. How are you feeling? Sneaky sand will get you. But you turned your flashers on, so that was good. Man, the trees are in the way, but that is not ugly. Nicole's fine. Just need a little help to get the bike off of her is all. These things happen. The sand sneaks up on you. Had some sandy patches, but we're into the Aspens. And they're changing colors, and it's very pretty. Colors of the rock, the trees, everything. Beautiful. It's been an eventful ride so far. We've got to turn that one all the way around. We can get yours up, though. Here, put the kickstand up. Or down, I should say. Is it in gear? You're spilling gas, though, so we should hurry. There, this helps. There you go. Ta-da. Yeah, that overflow. Pain in the ass in these. I got you. I'm on your low side. There you are. It's all you. I would suggest the outside line. They'll keep you upright. They won't let you slide. There we go. Watch now. I'll drop it. Yeah. Always a good time. Pretty steep right there. We're very loose on the inside. Yeah, yeah, I was worried I wouldn't have good footage from today. It's a good warm-up. We got lots of footage of people helping people. It's a beautiful view that I don't want to become part of. That's the notch down there. That is something. Beautiful. Good morning. Welcome to Friday here at the Three-Step Desert Rodeo in Utah. Yesterday's filming ended abruptly because yesterday didn't end super awesome. Just a lot of dust yesterday, just a ton. And we were out there for eight hours. So it really kind of built up. And my contacts started wigging out of me like it was getting weird. And so I kind of grinned and bared it until we got down to the gas station. And then I was messing with it, and it fell out. And I had Solution with me, which I don't even usually remember. But it would not go back in. Like, I tried 10 times. And I've been wearing contacts since I was 13 years old. So I ended up having to ride back an hour with only one eye. And that sucked. So I was grouchy about it. But dinner was delicious. And then did the fireside chat thing last night. Now it's on for the second full day of riding. So let's go see what breakfast looks like. What's going on over here? I wonder what we're having for breakfast. More importantly, I can take you all the way down. See, that's the cinematography you're after. So lots of awesome routes on offer here, all leaving from camp and heading out to amazing places like Natural Bridges. We did Bears Ears yesterday. And then if you want a little bit harder fare, here's all the small bike stuff. Slick Rock, Lockhart Basin, which, yeah, no thanks. Oh, that is the breakfast bell. No more filming for me. Hey, Ben, why are you filming the food more than the riding? Well, look at it. Yeah, good point. Hey, you're such a good, you're a hand model now. Congratulations. Suited up, turtle ready to go. Day two destination, Natural Bridges. Three cool bridges on a nine-mile drive. Damn, Utah, you pretty. We're not even to the viewpoint yet. First bridge on the tour, Sipapu Bridge. I'm sure I'm saying that wrong. S-I-P-A-P-U. Tachina Bridge. It's a Hopi word for rock mound. Refilled my water bladder at the visitor center. That was almost empty. Can't have too much water in the desert. Doused my brand new Colorado Motorcycle Adventures neck gaiter, and they got the good ones that actually fit and work. I'm gonna gear up, head back out. We're not even a third of the way through this route today. Wow, that's hella cool. Look at this. Look at that. Look at it. We are going down. Wow, Utah. There's a lot of you, Utah. It's just incredible. Hi-yi-yi. What? I don't, I can't words. I can't words, you guys. I just can't words. I'm out of words, which is pretty rare for me because I talk a lot. It's my whole job. There's a bird below me. So, you know, if you're wondering if we're high or not, that's usually a good indicator there are birds soaring below you. This must have been an interesting shelf road to build because holy ----, look at all that. Just blasted it out of the cliff side. Wow, this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Think I could just go off the side here. We'll probably make it. I'm pretty good at riding downhill now. Just whoop. It's faster, you know, saves gas. Just breathtaking. I'm speechless. And the best way to experience it is on a motorcycle. So I'm very excited to be here on this Touring 660. Okay, let's route Texas to Valley of the Gods because that was the turn off. I don't think I need to be in fifth gear. Okay, I stopped just to take a panorama shot because look at this. Camera will just make everything look small and far away, but just imagine everything three times as impressive and you'll have a rough idea what it feels like to be here right now. Wow. This is spectacular. See why they call it Valley of the Gods. Like, look at this formation. That definitely looks like just a giant, vengeful being chilling on the cliff side there. It's the one I was trying to film from way over there. I didn't know we were gonna go right by it. So cool, dude. Look at this. Wow. That's gotta be getting old, but for you, the viewer, but the view sure as hell ain't getting old for me. There's a rock. There's a hard place. Oh, I found it. There I am between them. Well, that was Valley of the Gods. Highly recommended. Not a difficult road. You're just gonna have to deal with a little bit of sand, but that may have been some of the coolest things I've ever seen on a motorcycle. So it's starting to sound like I may be back next year. So just in case you're interested, I just wanted to show off what the accommodations look like now. Yeah, I'm a spreader outer. Thank God Grace isn't here because there'd have been nowhere for her to sleep, but this little cabin is super cute. Sleeps two, has a wood stove. It does not have electricity, but they do give you a battery-powered lantern. Got a cool little wash basin, so no running water, but you can just fill up cowboy style, fill up that and use the sink. Nice little storage area. And then there's a composting toilet, but mine is broken. So I've been just using the one in the bathhouse, which is right outside, right there. So short walk. We've got teepees and a bunch of different cabins. And it's just a cool spot. It is the third and final day of riding here at the Three Step Desert Rodeo. And I think today we're headed out to Onion Creek. Gonna ride with Dylan, the owner of Colorado Motorcycle Adventures. Outfit of the day. I've been testing this. This is the Moskomoto Apecat Harness. Trying to find something that like, still gives me breathability, unlike a backpack, but also enables me to carry my water on me and this thing is kind of interesting. I don't know, it feels almost like I'm trying to be tactical, but it's been comfortable so far. So I'm enjoying it. Got the Climb, what is this? Tactical Pro Jersey. Climb Soft Armor underneath. And I'm also testing out for the first time, a pair of Kyger Pants from Moscow, which you're not gonna be able to see, but they're black riding pants, but they breathe really well. Like they have a loose weave, kind of like the Marrakesh pants. And of course the real gem, my sick new limited edition, Alpine Stars, mirrored goggles. Thanks Brian for those. One of 200. Okay, only super special people got those, so we're gonna put some miles on them today. Just gonna go find the group and go ride. So thanks for coming along. Let's hope it's a good one. So Kokopelli Trail starts here. This is where Ash, the lead guide, told me to turn around, because it gets real stupid. So I guess we're not doing that. So this will be fun. Sure, fun is a word. It will be interesting. The thing is, if you're gonna gas it and launch off the drops, you need to know if you have enough space to then slow down afterward. Just be ready to leap off. Look at this. It's not even attached. This is the trail. Look at this. Drop, drop, drop. Big drop into sand. Oh, double. This is no joke, eh? Oh, you broke the double take. I didn't know that was possible. Let's go across like that. And then over like that. So much for fast and easy, huh? There she is. Oh, you gotta stand up. Hey, that is a cakewalk. Cakewalk. It's not too bad. He literally said, three minutes ago, it's all easy for me. This guy is more full of ---- than me. And that's saying something. I'm going over this. Nope, no I'm not. I blew her. Just keep moving. We got water crossings and fun shenanigans. Hell yeah, we do. So majestic. Like a gazelle. Because we got to ride up the creek. Fun. Here we go, boyos. These are easy ones too. Although it's late in the season. There's not a lot of water I imagine there. Is this real? Look at this. It's party time. What a canyon. That was a great day of riding. And now, it's time for raffles. And beers. But I'll probably really only film the raffles. You know what it looks like when I drink beer already. Look at all these raffle prizes. We got MoTak stuff. We got Rabbit stuff. We got BDR stuff. We got Moscow stuff. We got so many double takes. We might be able to replace all the ones we broke this weekend. Thanks for hanging out with us for, what, three riding days? Zero, one, seven, two. So double takes sent us some stuff, right? Would you like to win one beer at a time? 74. 174. What an amazing three days of riding. Four days of hanging out here at the Three Step Desert Hideaway for the Colorado Motorcycle Adventures Three Step Desert Rodeo. Met some great people. Shout out to all of you. Everybody was super cool and enthusiastic. Did some great riding. Checked some stuff off the bucket list. Got to ride in Valley of the Gods. It was spectacular. And all in all, highly recommend this event. I know it's happening again next year and there's a good chance I'll be here, so I'll link their website obviously in the description. So last night, over a couple Coors Lights, Dylan, the owner, and I finalized a plan. I've always wanted to run the Colorado BDR. They have a Colorado BDR tour. It seemed like a great opportunity to work together. So I'm gonna run the Colorado BDR with them and it's gonna be a tour for dorksiders only. And the dates for that are July 25th through August 1st, 2025. So if you sign up before December 1st of this year, you can get a discount on the rental and the tour. I don't remember the details, but I'll have them and I'll put them in the description or maybe on the screen here. It's not cheap because it's a supported tour with hotels, but you get to see the Colorado BDR completely worry-free. I met Ash, the lead guide. He's an awesome guy. It's gonna be a great trip with a great group. One of those kind of bucket list adventures, but a week of riding, bike rental, hotel, and conquering the Colorado BDR next year at the end of July. There's 10 slots, so I hope we have 10 dorksiders and me out there crushing it on the Colorado BDR because I'm really excited for that and I really hope that you can come along. I'm gonna head over to my last breakfast. My rig's all loaded up. I'm gonna get out of here. I got a 16-hour drive to get home, but Utah's been beautiful. Thank you to Utah for having me. Thanks, Utah. But for now and as always, I just want to say thank you very much for watching. I appreciate you and please do not forget to be excellent to each other. I thank you. Excellent! Yay! ♪♪♪